Ex-situ reductive dechlorination of carbon tetrachloride (CT) by iron sulfide in a batch reactor was characterized in this study. Reactor scaled-up by 3.5 L was used to investigate the effect of reductant concentration on removal efficiency and process optimization for ex-situ degradation. The experiment was conducted by using both liquid-phase and gas-phase volume at pH 8.5 in anaerobic condition. For 1 mM of initial CT concentration, the removal of the target compound was 98.9% at 6.0 g/L iron sulfide. Process optimization for ex-situ treatment was performed by checking the effect of transition metal and mixing time on synthesizing iron sulfide solution, and by determining of the regeneration time. The effect of Co(II) as transition metal was shown that the reaction rate was slightly improved but the improvement was not that outstanding. The result of determination on the regeneration time indicated that regenerating reductant capacity after treatment of target compound was needed. Due to the high removal rates of CT, ex-situ reductive dechlorination in batch reactor can be used for basic treatment for the chlorinated compounds.

Doherty, R. E., "A History of the Production and Use of Carbon Tetrachloride, Tetrachloroethylene, Trichloroethylene and 1,1,1-Trichloroethane in the United States: Part 1-Historical Background; Carbon Tetrachloride and Tetrachloroethylene," Environ. Forensics, 1(2), 69-81 (2000)